Versie van 8 feb 2010 om 16:38

When new Wikitravellers set up a user account and make a new user page, it can be nice to welcome them onto the site with a brief welcome message. This has the dual benefit of letting them know that we want their help and shared knowledge, as well as giving some good starting points for learning how to be the best darn contributor ever. See also Hoe om te gaan met ongewenste bewerkingen if the newcomer is not too familiar with Wikitravel conventions.

Anyone can welcome new users to the site, and they can use whatever text they want. It is recommended that new user is welcomed if they:

edit live article pages, especially if the edit(s) resulted in a comment from someone else (so you can critique their work and point to particular articles that might help them - or just thank them for the contribution), or

create a new page, (other than their user page), or

create their user page and make an edit to live pages, or

make comments on talk pages or other discussion pages.

The following Wiki markup has most of the important starter links in it, however, and makes a good standard welcome message.

Hello!
[[Wikitravel:Welcome, newcomers|Welcome]] to [[Wikitravel:About|Wikitravel]]. I would recommend to start with our [[Wikitravel:Tips for new contributors|Tips for new contributors]] if you feel like it. To specialize your experience you may want to consider [[Special:preferences|editing your preferences]]. Please take a second to look at our [[Wikitravel:copyleft|copyleft]] and [[Wikitravel:policies and guidelines|policies and guidelines]], but feel free to [[Wikitravel:plunge forward|plunge forward]] and [[Wikitravel:How to edit a page|edit some pages]]. Scanning the [[Wikitravel:Manual of style|manual of style]], especially the [[Wikitravel:article templates|article templates]], can give you a good idea of how we like articles formatted. If you're new to the whole wiki software look at the [[Wikitravel:Wiki_markup|wiki markup]] to get an idea of how to use the wiki markup. If you need help, check out [[Wikitravel:Help]], and if you need some info not on there, post a message in the [[Wikitravel:travellers' pub|travellers' pub]]. -- ~~~~

You should be able to copy and paste that into someone's user talk page. Or you can put {{subst:welcome}} to insert the same text from Template:welcome. It's nice to personalize the message, though!

Wikipedians

Hello!
[[Wikitravel:Welcome, newcomers|Welcome]] to [[Wikitravel:About|Wikitravel]]. If you want to specialize your experience you may want to consider [[Special:preferences|editing your preferences]]. Please take a second to look at our [[Wikitravel:copyleft|copyleft]] and [[Wikitravel:policies and guidelines|policies and guidelines]], but feel free to [[Wikitravel:plunge forward|plunge forward]] and [[Wikitravel:How to edit a page|edit some pages]]. Scanning the [[Wikitravel:Manual of style|Manual of style]], especially the [[Wikitravel:article templates|article templates]], can give you a good idea of how we like articles formatted. If you're new to the whole wiki community look at the [[Wikitravel:Wiki_markup|wiki markup]] to get an idea of how to use the wiki markup. If you need help, check out [[Wikitravel:Help]], and if you need some info not on there, post a message in the [[Wikitravel:travellers' pub|travellers' pub]].

If you are a [[Wikitravel:Welcome, Wikipedians|Wikipedian]], or have previously used [[Wikipedia]], then you may notice some differences in the style of our articles. Some of the changes are:
* "Village Pump" -> [[Wikitravel:travellers' pub|travellers' pub]]
* "be bold" -> [[Wikitravel:plunge forward|plunge forward]]
* "sandbox" -> [[Wikitravel:graffiti wall|graffiti wall]]
* "stub notes" -> [[Wikitravel:Article status|Article status notes]]
* "External links" -> We do not use a separate [[Wikitravel:external links|external links]] section, but incorporate them into the text.
* "NPOV" -> Um, we have a [[Wikitravel:The traveller comes first|a point of view]] and don't always care for [[Wikitravel:Be fair|political correctness]].
<nowiki>Thank you for contributing. -- ~~~~

You can quick-add this by adding {{subst:welcome}} {{subst:wikipedian}} to a talk page.

Anonymous users

Anonymous contributors should be welcomed in cases of:

repeated vandalism, (or any vandalism?)

repeated edits over a period of time with an assessment about their quality, (good, bad, indifferent or variable)

contributing to discussions, especially if it is important that replies be seen by contributor

copyright or other policy guideline issues.

Some guidelines we try to follow here:

Find something nice to say. Even if someone is an obvious troll/vandal, be the bigger person and Assume Good Faith. Also keep in mind that 1 IP is not always 1 User and that other users may be on the other end of your message. First impressions and all that...

Invite the user to create an account. But make it clear that it's in no way required. Pointing out the Wikitravel:Docent project may also encourage folks to get involved, especially if they have been focusing on one or two destinations that they obviously know well.

Point out appropriate policy/guideline links. Probably not the whole welcome graph, but a subset that seems useful given their contributions.

Just as an example:

Howdy. I just wanted to let you know...
By the way, great work on ... destinations-- have you considered [[Wikitravel:How to create a user account|creating a user account]] so you get credit for your contributions and maybe becoming a [[Wikitravel:Docent]]?
Also, if you're new to the whole wiki software look at the [[Wikitravel:Wiki_markup|wiki markup]] to get an idea of how to use the wiki markup (we dont use html tages for formatting). If you need help, check out [[Wikitravel:Help]], and if you need some info not on there, post a message in the [[Wikitravel:travellers' pub|travellers' pub]].
I look forward to more contributions! ~~~~